Making Progress

I was surprised to get this picture on my phone today from someone in Cameron. The picture shows a view of a demolished house on the corner of our church lot. This was in the works when we left, but has now been completed. Way to go Cameron folks!

MAIL!!!

It is always fun to get mail. You can just feel the anticipation as one of these boxes arrive and we wait for an appropriate moment to bust it open.

Thank you to everyone who has helped sent a box. We truly appreciate it. It is a very tangible way of seeing that you remember us.

Playing outside

We don't exactly have much green space for playing at our apartment, so the kids just play in the driveways. Here they are playing some form of dodgeball (JP's favorite in the US). It took us a while to figure out the rules.

JP bought a bike and his sister is borrowing it.

We are getting together with a group on fridays to swim and take lessons. It gives the kids a chance to have some good friends and time away from the apartment. We also signed them up for private music lessons but we have not started yet.

Hospital

These pictures don't really capture the entire ambiance of the hospital. Many of these people are waiting for their turn at care without appointments.

You can see the hallway lined with people waiting. In the afternoon, these halls are much more clear.

We've gotten to know the receptionists very well. We've seen them more than one dozen days in the last month.

This doctor has been so helpful to us. He is very genuine and careful -- and extremely smart!

Tuxes

Everyone in this truck was wearing tux shirts. I'm not certain they will still be white by the time they arrive at the catering event.

Birthday fun

This is a birthday hat - in case you couldn't tell.

This is special stretching preparation for dessert.

This is special compacting preparation for dessert after an amazing Mexican dinner.

This is the smile of our friend the birthay girl who can now rent cars.

Science Project

J had his science project presentation yesterday. He did such a great job! He and I had a lot of fun doing the experiment also. His project was to test the results of adding Mentos to Pepsi, Sprite, Fanta, Thumbs-Up. Pepsi won by spraying over 8 feet in the air. He also gave a great presentation to his peers.

Easter Sunday

On Easter Sunday, we had an opportunity to attend a community gathering that works with slum children in their neigborhood.


The first thing that each of the 225 children do when they arrive is step into this little pool of water to wash off their feet. I love the picture of this little guy getting ready to plunge in. Below, you can see the girls in their pretty dresses doing the same. They love coming and today, they will have a special privilege of staying for lunch.

Then they lined up outside the house and waited for things to begin and M helped lead in some songs.

After worship and dramas, the children lined up outside and waited in shifts for the meal. Each child waits until everyone in that shift is served until they begin eating.

We are very encouraged by this ministry. Right now they are being sponsored by a youth camp in Tennessee. Oh, and they also do word in several villages in addition to an orphanage helping a total of over 2000 severely at-risk children.

Crazy traffic

I got a new lens for by b-day. It is wide and helps capture the hugeness of traffic here. We went to dinner last night with friends across town (15-20 km) and arrived 1.5 hours later!

These people on bikes are able to weave through traffic even while its at a standstill.

Scratch type cooking

M went to work on a new recipe that she found for my birthday cake. It was a lot more work than adding eggs and milk to a box cake, but the rewards were outstanding! Thank you for a great b-day cake M!! It was a yellow cake with amazing chocolate frosting.

We had a wonderful day with many birthday greetings from all over. I was reminded of how blessed we are to have such amazing friends. It was pretty overwhelming.